TAMPA,Fla.– Bella Santorum made a brief return to the national stage Tuesday night.

Her dad, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, reminded the crowd at the Republican National Convention Tuesday of his 3-year-old daughter who suffers from a rare genetic disorder to laud his party for firmly opposing abortion.

Bella Santorum’s health struggles became a brief chapter in the Republican primary fight when the former senator took a brief hiatus from the campaign trail after his daughter was admitted to the hospital. Mr. Romney’s top rival frequently invoked his daughter’s struggles to highlight his staunch opposition to abortion. Read More »

TAMPA, Fla.—For a Republican presidential candidate hoping to woo women, minorities and conservatives, Gov. Nikki Haley of South Carolina offers a trifecta: She’s the state’s first female and first Indian-American governor, and she swept into office on a wave of tea-party support.

Little surprise, then, that organizers of the Republican convention awarded her a prime speaking slot on Tuesday night.

“I am the proud daughter of Indian immigrants,” she said, in a speech that garnered rousing applause. “They loved the fact that only in America could we be as successful as we wanted to be, and nothing would stand in our way.” Read More »

Chris Christie’s speech, according to prepared remarks, isn’t quite the usual talk he gives to out-of-state audiences. Gone are some of his favorite stories, like the one about telling a room full of angry union firefighters that he would cut their pensions or his mother’s exhortation on her deathbed that he should go back to work “because nothing is left unsaid between us.”

Gone, too, is much of the trademark Christie feistiness–no “get the hell off the beach” here. Read More »

TAMPA, Fla. – Ted Cruz, the Republican Senate candidate from Texas, made a personal pitch in his Tuesday night speech, speaking about his Cuban father and the value of allowing Americans to chart their own course.

Speaking at the Republican National Convention, he decried government dependency and called for individual responsibility.

“Fifty-five years ago, when my dad was a penniless teenager, thank God some well-
meaning bureaucrat didn’t put his arm around him and say let me take care of you,” Mr. Cruz said. “Let me give you a government check and make you dependent on government. And by the way, don’t bother
learning English. That would have been utterly destructive.” Read More »

TAMPA,Fla.– President Barack Obama’s campaign touted some unlikely cheerleaders Tuesday night during the Republican National Convention.

The Obama campaign seized on remarks by Ohio Gov. John Kasich, Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker – all Republicans – to make the case that the president has presided over an economic recovery in all three Midwestern battlegrounds. Read More »

TAMPA, Fla.— Brian Sandoval, the Republican governorof Nevada, offered a paean to immigrants in his speech at the GOP convention Tuesday night, part of a GOP effort to win back Hispanics alienated by Republican policies and rhetoric on immigration.

“We are a nation of laws, a nation of due process and merit and justice for all, and yes, a nation of immigrants,” he said, to applause. “One of the greatest duties I performed” as a federal judge, he added, was to administer “the oath of citizenship for new Americans.”

As Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign courts Hispanic voters, Mr. Sandoval was one of several high-profile Hispanic Republicans, including Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez, whoreceived prominent speaking slots at the convention. The Nevada governor told the delegates he grew up as “a child of working-class Hispanic-Americans.” The son of an aviation technician and a legal secretary, he worked his way through college and law school, he said. “We lived a simple, American life.” Read More »

Ann Romney speaks Tuesday night, aiming to deliver the most prominent speech of her life in a heartfelt way, despite the scripted nature of the event. She plays a pivotal role in the campaign strategy to personalize Mitt Romney, her husband and the GOP presidential nominee. After Mrs. Romney is Chris Christie, the outspoken New Jersey governor and keynote speaker. Follow updates in our live blog.

9:49 pm (EDT)

Welcome to the Primetime GOP Live Blog

Tim Hanrahan

Programming Note:Ann Romney is set to begin speaking at 10:15 p.m., followed by Chris Christie at 10:40. We'll begin updating this live blog at 10 p.m. ET

Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell made the case for electing Republican governors in his convention remarks on Tuesday night. His argument: GOP governors have a better record than Democrats when it comes to job creation.

Mr. McDonnell’s speech was designed to remind voters of Mitt Romney’s record as the Massachusetts governor, even as Democrats relentlessly attack his record as a private-equity executive at Bain Capital.

The remarks also could resonate with voters in the large number of swing states that have GOP governors this year, including Virginia, Florida (Rick Scott), Ohio (John Kasich), Wisconsin (Scott Walker), New Mexico (Susana Martinez) and Nevada (Brian Sandoval), maybe even Michigan (Rick Snyder). Read More »

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Washington Wire is one of the oldest standing features in American journalism. Since the Wire launched on Sept. 20, 1940, the Journal has offered readers an informal look at the capital. Now online, the Wire provides a succession of glimpses at what’s happening behind hot stories and warnings of what to watch for in the days ahead. The Wire is led by Reid J. Epstein, with contributions from the rest of the bureau. Washington Wire now also includes Think Tank, our home for outside analysis from policy and political thinkers.